This invention generally relates to particle loading systems and methods; and more specifically, to systems and methods for loading bulk quantities of particulate materials into dispensing apparatus that are subsequently used to discharge small quantities of the particulate materials.
Various food commodities, such as several cereal products, are often packaged by filling a large dispensing device with a bulk quantity of the commodity, and then dispensing or feeding small quantities of the commodity through a funnel that forms a bottom or lower portion of the dispensing device, into small, individual packages that are then prepared for sale to the consumer.
In some instances, this bulk commodity consists of a blend or mixture of coarse and fine particles. For instance, some cereals include flakes having a range of sizes, and some of these flakes may be quite small while others may be comparatively large. Other cereals include sugar-coated flakes; and during handling and processing, small sugar particles may break away from the much larger flakes. Still other cereal products consist of two or more types of food products, such as flakes and fruit pieces, that have different sizes.
Prior art processes and apparatuses are known for dispensing food commodities of the above-described type; however, difficulties are occasionally encountered with these prior art arrangements. For example, with a food composition that consists of a blend or mixture of coarse and fine particles, the ingredients of the composition tend to segregate from each other as they are poured into and subsequently passed downward through the dispensing device. Typically, the fine particles tend to collect in the center of the dispensing device, while the coarse particles tend to collect toward the sides of that device. Moreover, when such a bulk composition is discharged from the dispensing device, initially product from the center of the device tends to flow out faster than product from the sides of the dispensing device. As a result, the food materials fed into the individual small packages do not always have the desired proportions of the different particulate ingredients.
Because of this, some of those individual packages being filled may be provided with more than the desired weight or mass of the food composition or with more than the desired amount of a particular one of the ingredients of the composition--conditions referred to as overfill. Any overfill of a package increases the cost of that package to the food manufacturer, and this increased cost is exacerbated if the package is overfilled with a more expensive ingredient of the bulk composition. Because the packages are normally sold at a uniform price, regardless of whether the packages are overfilled, the increased cost of an overfilled package is not recovered by the manufacturer but instead is a direct economic loss.
Another disadvantage of the prior art particulate dispensing systems is that some relatively fragile commodities may tend to break apart as they are poured into and passed downward through the dispensing device, and this tends to produce unwanted fine particles in the food commodity. Also, on occasion, the particles will become jammed in the dispensing device. This interferes with the regular filling of the individual packages, and often an appreciable amount of time and effort is required by an operator to restart the flow of the food materials from the dispensing device.
Prior art processes and systems for dispensing food commodities of the above-described type are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,854,722, 4,548,342, and 4,286,883.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,722 discloses a particle dispensing apparatus having a top bin section and a lower discharge section; and this discharge section, in turn, includes a pair of generally concentric cones that form an annulus therebetween. These two concentric cones are positioned and dimensioned, first, to help ensure that the proportions of course and fine particles discharged from the dispensing apparatus remain more constant over time, second, to ensure a smooth and regular flow of that material downward through the dispenser, and third, to reduce the number of food particles that break as they pass through the dispenser.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,883 discloses an apparatus for blending bulk particulate solids, and comprising a distribution chute bin and a cone section having outer and inner cones. Particulate material is fed into the chute bin, which is designed to cause mixing of course and fine particles, thereby reducing particle size segregation. The inner and outer cones of the cone section are designed to produce and to maintain a preferred particle flow velocity profile at the bottom of the cone section.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,342 discloses a hopper for receiving and then discharging a particulate material. An inner tapered surface extends through an opening at the bottom of the hopper and is supported in an operable position by webs that extend down to an outer tapered surface mounted to the hopper adjacent and below its opening. These tapered surfaces and supporting webs form a multitude of channels that provide additional problems of particle segregation due to the variable flow of solids in each of those channels.